Quality of much chems registration data insufficient, says ECHA

25 March 2013 14:40[Source: ICIS news]

HELSINKI (ICIS)--The quality of a significant proportion of chemicals registration data submitted for Reach is not yet of a sufficiently high standard, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) said on Monday.

According to Christel Musset, the agency's director of registration, a proportion of information submitted for the first deadline of Reach (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) on 30 November 2010, was not of a high enough standard to be fully compliant.

Speaking at the ECHA headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, Musset said: “The first registration deadline brought a wealth of information, and it has been good progress, because it’s the first time that we [have] had so much information on the chemicals that are in the European market.

“But what we have been seeing in our evaluation work... [is that] we are not there yet. There is still room for improving the information that we are receiving, so that’s why quality of information was brought so high up in our agenda,” she added.

The agency has set quality of information as one of its key strategic objectives, stating that it provides the basis for manufacturers and downstream users to implement safety measures, allows national authorities to judge whether risk management legislation is needed for a chemical, and engenders public confidence.

According to Musset, of the 5,500 registration dossiers submitted on chemicals for intermediate use – materials that are not sold on the general market but are used in manufacturing – 2,388 dossiers had anomalies of varying levels of severity. She added that, to date, 2,090 of those dossiers have been updated.

Musset added that Europe’s 10 largest chemicals companies had been expected to file submissions by the end of 2012 or start of 2013, months ahead of the 31 May 2013 deadline, for companies to register all phase-in substances manufactured or imported in the EU at or above 100 tonnes/year. All of those are now expected to file their large lead registrations by the end of April.

She said: “The basis for Reach is bringing data for chemicals... that are being put on the market. And in that context, it’s not enough to bring data. This information has to be of high quality.”